Tuesday, July 30, 2013

One reason this is my favorite time of year is the fact that I can grill my food nearly every weekend. I love it all on the grill---brats, hot dogs, chicken, steak---but, I think my all time favorite grill food is the burger. Usually, I just slap some burger into a patty and throw it on the grill, hoping that I don't leave it on so long that it dries out. This is especially hard to do with my husband's burgers. He wants well done, even if it means the consistency of shoe leather. ewww.

Recently, my friends at Red Gold Tomatoes sent me a little something to remedy that dried out burger. It was a six-pack of various cans of diced tomatoes and an awesome bottle of Mama Selita's Jalapeno Ketchup!

There was a time when I thought canned tomatoes should only be opened in the dead of winter but, while I do love a beautiful, ripe fresh tomato, I have come to find some great uses for the canned variety. Along with the six pack of tomato product, there were some fabulous recipes that I just had to try.

The recipes all sound great. There is a Red Gold burger, topped with a delicious sounding tomato mixture-- green onions, garlic, jalapenos, ginger, balsamic vinegar, brown sugar....oh my...this is next on my list. There is a Spicy Burger consisting of ground beef mixed with Red Gold Petite Diced Tomatoes with Green Chilies, and an Italian Burger that has ground beef mixed with Red Gold Diced Tomatoes with Basil, Garlic, & Oregano. Both of those sounded really good, but I decided a something a little different. Take a look at this:

Combine ground chicken, Red Gold Diced Tomatoes with Lime Juice & Cilantro, egg, and bread crumbs in a bowl. Form into patties and season with salt and black pepper. Place on grill and cook to desired temperature, 160 degrees F. for completely cooked burgers.

Here is the deal behind all of this goodness: Red Gold Tomatoes is hosting a Summer Grillin' Party on Facebook! As part of the promotion, they will be giving away 1,000 Red Gold "Summertime Tomatoes All Year Long" Aprons every week via a random drawing. There will also be one grand prize winner who will win a large Big Green Egg Grill--a $1000 value! Anyone who registers will automatically be entered into the weekly drawing and into the grand prize drawing, plus anyone can earn additional entries by referring others to participate. Just visit Red Gold's Facebook Page for all of the details. The giveaway is going to run from July 24th until August 30th...so get going!

As a bonus, Red Gold is allowing me to give away the same tomato kit I received to one of my readers...how cool is that?! Simply leave a comment letting me know which Red Gold Recipe strikes your fancy, then be sure to leave your contact info. via the Rafflecopter widget....it's easy....just login using your Facebook account or your email. :) You can get extra entries by liking The Dutch Baker's Daughter on Facebook and Red Gold Tomatoes on Facebook. I'll let Rafflecopter select the winner on August 7th. For more tips and recipes, visit Red Gold Tomatoes on Pinterest, You Tube, and Instagram.Disclosure: I was given free product in order to try Red Gold Tomato's recipes. All opinions are my own.

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Welcome to another round of the Improv Cooking Challenge....this month our theme is Peaches and Herb(s)! Improv is a monthly blogger event sponsored by the fabulous Kristen of Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker. Each month Kristen gives us a two ingredient seasonal theme to work with. Peaches and Herb has almost a musical sound to it, no?

As luck would have it, the fruit stand down the street had some peaches that were just perfect. I had already decided that basil (my favorite herb) would be the best match for my peaches and I also found some heirloom tomatoes.

To be honest, I was thinking more along the lines of a peach and basil galette, or a basil-steeped custard with caramelized peaches. Unfortunately, the heat got the best of me and I refused to put the oven on. I needed easy and I needed fast. A quick search for "Peach and Basil" on the Internet brought me to a fantastic sounding salsa.....

Although I'm not one for following recipes, I made this one pretty close to the original. I didn't grill my own corn (I used Trader Joe's frozen grilled corn), and I subbed my heirloom tomatoes for the one whole tomato...oh yeah, my onion was a white, sweet onion, not red. So easy and so tasty. Did I hear you ask for the recipe? You can find it here: Grilled Corn, Peach, and Basil Salsa by Sweet Tooth Love.

What could be more perfect than a Peaches and Herb Salsa? How about a little Reunited?

Saturday, July 13, 2013

Welcome to the second installment of The Salad Bar--a monthly blogging event hosted by Wendy of The Weekend Gourmet . This month the theme is Potluck Salads. Oh my...salad for a crowd! I just haven't been making large batches of food recently, so I searched around for a recipe that I remembered from my past that I could reduce down for just my husband and me. Yes--I found it!

The original recipe that I was thinking of comes from a benefit cookbook put out by the Mount Sinai Auxiliary of Minneapolis called Food for Show Food on the Go! It is a huge batch of salad called Fantastic Chicken Salad. To make it more manageable (and to utilize what I had on hand) I changed it considerably. I will call my new version Grilled Chicken Salad for a Crowd. Go ahead and double this if you are really making it for a crowd--I made it just for us and had enough for several additional meals.

Grilled Chicken Salad for a Crowd

Ingredients:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

salt and pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

2 tablespoons orange juice

1/2 (8 oz) bag baby spinach leaves

1/2 (8 oz) bag Spring Mix lettuce

2 hard boiled eggs, sliced

4 plum tomatoes, quartered

1 avocado, sliced

1 cup roasted corn kernels

1 cup shredded Swiss cheese

Dressing:

1 cup mayonnaise (light is ok)

1/4 cup chili sauce

2 tablespoons grated onion

2 tablespoons pickle relish

1/4 teaspoon chili powder

Butterfly the chicken breasts, place them between two sheets of parchment paper, and pound them thin. They will grill up fast and won't dry out.

Start by grilling or baking the chicken breasts. I was able to do this ahead of time by just adding the chicken (pounded thin) to the grill when I was cooking dinner the night before. Season the chicken with a little salt and pepper before cooking.

In a medium bowl, blend the oil, vinegar, and orange juice. Cut the grilled chicken into large chunks and stir them into the citrus mixture. Cover, refrigerate, and marinate for several hours.

I love the orange-y taste the marinade gives the chicken...

The addition of the chicken makes this truly meal worthy.

Anyone have one of these? I use my egg slicer way more often than I ever thought I would.

I always throw a few ears of corn on the grill to give them a little char. Then, I cut the kernels off and use them for salads.

While the chicken is marinating, go ahead and make the salad dressing. It's so easy to make it yourself, no? Just blend the mayonnaise, chili sauce, onion, and chili powder together and refrigerate until you need it.

Just like Thousand Island Dressing--I use this as a "secret sauce" for my burgers, too!

When you are ready to assemble the salad, have all of your ingredients at the ready. Then, simply layer the ingredients in a large, glass or clear bowl. Start with half of the lettuce and spinach, then add the chicken chunks, eggs, tomatoes, avocados, corn, and more lettuce. Top with the shredded cheese and refrigerate. When you are ready to serve, toss all of the ingredients together and pass the dressing. Alternately, toss the salad with the dressing and let the guests serve themselves.

About Me

My blog, The Dutch Baker's Daughter , was started in 2009 as a way to connect with others in the food community and to share my love of cooking and baking with home cooks on every level. While the title of my blog describes my heritage perfectly (as I am indeed the daughter of a Dutch baker), I was born and raised in the United States and my own recipe style is varied. I do share a handful of Dutch recipes, but I am first and foremost a competitive cook and baker, having placed in and/or won several recipe contests. My passion is to share these competitive adventures and the results are all over the board... desserts, breakfasts, dinners, appetizers, cocktails...nothing is off limits!

The Original Dutch Baker

My Heritage

On September 17, 1944, my father, Joost Stapelbroek, was delivering bread by bicycle in the Dutch countryside. He looked up in the sky and to his amazement, he saw the 101st Aireborne Division descending into his Nazi-occupied country to begin Operation Market-Garden and to begin the liberation of Holland. His admiration of those wonderful Screaming Eagles led to his love of all things American and ultimately to his decision to relocate his family to this fabulous country.